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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29476767">Hiding in Plain Sight</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaryRoyale/pseuds/MaryRoyale'>MaryRoyale</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, F/M, M/M, Millicent is hiding from Death Eaters in Forks, Pansy Parkinson had a plan, Slytherin Protection</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 22:14:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,751</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29476767</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaryRoyale/pseuds/MaryRoyale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The half-bloods of Slytherin are not in a good place. The rest of the student body hates them because they're Slytherin, but the Death Eaters have no patience with them because they're half-bloods. Pansy Parkinson comes up with a plan to protect the half-bloods of Slytherin, and Millicent winds up stranded in the northwestern corner of Washington State. Forks looks to be the most Muggle village ever. The next year or so promise to be just... lovely.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alice Cullen/Bella Swan, Edward Cullen/Bella Swan, Jasper Hale/Millicent Bulstrode</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Evil Author Musings</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Hiding in Plain Sight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A/N: Timelines don’t exist. I have thrown them away. This is pre-New Moon (by a week?) and pre-Deathly Hallows. I’m throwing things to the wind and warping everything to make Jasper/Millicent a possibility. Somehow? If you don’t like femslash, maybe you should skip me. Here there be queer people…<br/>Also, I know that I usually write Millie as a pureblood, but according to You-Know-Who, she’s a half-blood. That actually worked for this fic, so I used it. Think of this as a Slytherin Half-Blood Witness Protection. With smoochies.<br/>And lastly, this is absolutely and completely for my own pleasure. This sounded ridiculous and fun and it keeps me from panicking every time I have to leave my house. </p><p>This was, of course, beta'd by the lovely and charming Auntie_L. She's amazing. </p><p>Freyja the cat is named after Freya Ishtar because we support each other's strange fascination with Twilight/HP crossovers. </p><p>[I wrote this in March or April of 2020. My anxiety got even worse and I couldn't write at all. So I figured that I might as well toss this into Evil Author Day for 2021.]</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure,” he asked quietly. A wave of guilt, regret, and sadness surrounded him for a moment and shook his head. “Alice, no. You don’t have to feel guilty.”</p><p>“I do though.” Alice gave him slight smile. If she had been capable of tears, she probably would be crying. “I love you, I do, it’s just…”</p><p>“Not the way you love her,” Jasper finished for her.</p><p>“Finishing my sentences is usually Edward’s job,” Alice teased him sadly.</p><p>“How does <em>he</em> feel about… all of this?” Jasper wondered aloud.</p><p>Alice snorted. “He’s the youngest of all of us and he’s <em>so</em> hidebound.”</p><p>“Weren’t you two born in the same year?” Jasper asked with a smile.</p><p>“You’d never know it,” Alice said with a sniff.</p><p>“How is this supposed to work?” Jasper wondered.</p><p>“You’ll still be my Jazz,” Alice said softly. “My best friend. I really do love you, you know?”</p><p>“I know.” Jasper took a deep breath, even though he didn’t need to do so. “I can feel it, you know? Your love is like… this warm ball of sunshine. I never knew that love could be like that, and after Maria I really <em>needed</em> it, but I can feel the difference between what you feel for me and what you feel for her.”</p><p>“I’m so sorry, Jazz,” Alice whispered.</p><p>“Don’t,” Jasper warned her. He frowned at her and raised his voice slightly. He really fucking hoped that Eddie was listening. “Don’t you <em>ever</em> apologize for who you love. Not to me. And you’d better not fucking apologize to <em>him</em>. If he can read your mind the way he claims he can—he has to know how hard this is for you. If he tries to make it any harder, I’ll kick his ass myself.”</p><p>“I’ll help!” Emmett hollered from downstairs.</p><p><em>Not helping</em>, Alice mouthed at him. He grinned at her and shrugged. Edward needed to pull his head out of his ass. Jasper could see the way Alice and Bella were together. It was <em>nothing </em>like the way Rosalie and Alice were when they were around one another. It was also nothing like the way Esmee interacted with either woman. There was a closeness—an intimacy—that didn’t exist in their other relationships.</p><p>Whenever Alice was near Bella, both women’s emotional states were buoyed. Alice lit up every time she saw Bella, and Bella seemed to return Alice’s easy affection. Jasper couldn’t really say that Bella <em>loved</em> Alice the same way that Alice loved Bella, but he knew the human’s pulse fluttered whenever Alice or Edward were affectionate with her.</p><p>The only question for Jasper was whether or not Edward and Alice could peacefully coexist with Bella between them. Whether or not Bella could love Alice in return was not a question that any of them could, or should, answer.</p><p>“She could be hurt,” Edward said from the doorway. He frowned and looked away from them both. “I know we’re dangerous for her, but I can’t stop myself. I can’t… I’m sorry Alice. I can’t step aside.”</p><p>“Who asked you to do that, silly?” Alice huffed at him.</p><p>“I… what?” The confusion on Edward’s face and the roiling turmoil flowing off of him were too much for Jasper.</p><p>“I think I’ll leave you two to this conversation,” Jasper muttered. He pressed a kiss to Alice’s temple. “I’m going hunting.”</p><p>“Coward!” Rosalie hollered from somewhere in the house. Jasper rolled his eyes.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>“If you could sign right here, Millicent,” the registrar murmured.</p><p>“Of course,” Millicent replied.</p><p>Carefully, she picked up the ballpoint pen and scrawled her signature at the bottom of the form. It felt odd to not hold a quill in her hand. The slick feel of the paper was jarring—she kept expecting the slightly rougher texture of parchment. When she was finished, she sat back and looked at the registrar expectantly.</p><p>“I believe that’s everything,” the registrar said after looking over the paperwork in front of her. “Welcome to Forks High.”</p><p>“Thank you,” Millicent murmured. She paused as something occurred to her. “Where do I get my timetable?”</p><p>“Your what?” The registrar frowned in confusion.</p><p>A dull flush spread over Millicent’s cheeks.</p><p>“I beg your pardon. I believe you call it, erm, a class schedule?” Millicent tried again.</p><p>“Oh!” The registrar laughed and shook her head. “Tomorrow morning. Just come to the office and I’ll have it ready for you.”</p><p>“Thank you,” Millicent murmured. She turned around to leave and almost bumped into another girl. “I beg your pardon.”</p><p>“Sorry,” the other girl replied automatically. She nodded and moved to the registrar’s counter.</p><p>Outside in the parking lot, Millicent sighed and shifted her messenger bag. There were too many people here for her to Apparate or use her broom. She knew that Muggles relied on their automobiles, but Millicent hadn’t a clue as to how to operate one of the things. She turned toward the section of town she was fairly certain she lived in and began walking.</p><p>Despite the overcast skies, it was quite warm, and Millicent had begun to regret the jumper that she had worn to register for school.</p><p>“Hey!”</p><p>If one had to hide away in obscure pockets of the States, Millicent supposed there were worse places to be than Forks, Washington. Pansy had sent Tracey off to some place called Bon Temps, Louisiana.</p><p>“Hey! English!”</p><p>A car screeched to a stop next to Millicent and the girl she’d bumped into in the registrar’s office was leaning over to wave at her out of the window. Millicent stopped and stared at the girl in surprise.</p><p>“You need a ride?” The girl asked with a concerned expression.</p><p>“I… yes,” Millicent decided. “That would be lovely.”</p><p>“That would be lovely,” the girl repeated in a painful attempt at Millicent’s accent, and then smiled. “You’re too much, English.”</p><p>“It’s Millicent, actually,” Millicent said drily.</p><p>“Angela,” the girl replied. “Get in, Millicent!”</p><p> “Oh.” Millicent shuffled awkwardly on the sidewalk. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”</p><p>“It’s no imposition,” Angela swore. “C’mon, English. Get in!”</p><p>With a sigh, Millicent reluctantly crawled into the car and awkwardly buckled herself in.</p><p>“So where do you live?” Angela asked.</p><p>“Oh… um… it’s actually just outside of town,” Millicent muttered. “If you could drop me off at the bridge, that would be fine.”</p><p>“The <em>bridge</em>?” Angela repeated incredulously. “That’s quite a ways out of town, are you sure?”</p><p>“I’m sure,” Millicent repeated. “Please, if you could just… drop me off at the bridge, that would be fine.”</p><p>“So, you’re new to Forks,” Angela said as she began to drive. “I mean, of course you are. It’s a small town and I’ve never seen you.”</p><p>“Erm, yes,” Millicent agreed.</p><p>“What grade are you?” Angela asked curiously. “I’m a senior this year.”</p><p>“Well, back home I would be a Seventh Year,” Millicent replied. “The registrar explained that works out to your 12<sup>th</sup> grade.”</p><p>“Cool. You’re a senior, too,” Angela said happily.</p><p>“I am?” Millicent began to feel slightly lost.</p><p>“We’re going to have so much fun.” Angela turned to grin at her before focusing on the road.</p><p>Somehow, Millicent doubted that.</p><p>Finally, Angela stopped by the bridge. She frowned at the bridge and then turned to look at Millicent.</p><p>“Are you <em>sure</em> you don’t want a ride home?” She asked.</p><p>“I’m quite sure, thank you,” Millicent promised.</p><p>Turning to watch Angela drive away, Millicent waited until she had driven off before turning and continuing over the bridge. Walking didn’t trouble her at all. She’d spent most of her childhood hiking all over her family’s estates, exploring dilapidated outbuildings and searching for fairy rings. Climbing about Hogwarts had only reinforced all of that.</p><p>The squeal of rubber against pavement had Millicent whirling in surprise, clutching her messenger bag to her chest defensively. Her fingers were already sliding along the side to the glamoured pocket where she’d hidden her wand.</p><p>Two red cars—she still wasn’t certain about makes or models—raced past her, and she could hear male laughter from the vehicle that didn’t appear to have a top… or sides, really.</p><p><em>Arseholes</em>, she thought furiously at the cars.</p><p>Once they were gone, she slipped off the road and into the woods. She pressed a hand against one of the trees, grounding herself. She took a deep breath, and then another. She pulled out her wand and flicked it through the air confidently, <em>destination, determination, deliberation</em>. Thank Merlin her seventeenth birthday had come before the Ministry takeover.</p><p>The safe house that Pansy had stuffed her into had top-notch wards, which was only to be expected. Pansy had always gotten the very best of everything. Millicent Apparated to her designated Apparition point, just outside her wards. Pansy had invested in war wards—they were extremely <em>robust</em>—so Millicent braced herself as she walked through them. Tingling, from her scalp to the soles of her feet, lasted for just a moment, but it made Millicent shudder all the same.</p><p>“I hope this is all worth it,” she muttered as she headed toward the rustic hunting lodge that was her new home.</p><p>“Miss is home!” Hinky ran up to her and wrung her hands. “Hinky is not liking her Miss leaving. Hinky’s Miss should be staying here where it be safe.”</p><p>“Hinky, you know that we can’t do that,” Millicent repeated for the umpteenth time. “We don’t have a Floo connection, it’s too dangerous. It’s impossible for Brunhild to bring everything we need here to us, and if she did, it would probably attract attention.”</p><p>“Hinky knows, Miss,” Hinky agreed with a pout. “But Hinky worries! What if the bad wizards find Miss?”</p><p>“That’s why we’re here, Hinky,” Millicent reminded her. “Pansy stuck us in the back of beyond to make sure that they couldn’t find us. We’re supposed to wait out the war and hope that Granger and Potter figure out how to kill the Dark Bastard so that I can go home, and everything can go back to normal.”</p><p>Hinky nodded solemnly, her ears flapping. “Hinky is hoping that the wizards be fixing things so that Hinky’s Miss be safe.”</p><p>“Thank you, Hinky. How were things while I was gone?” Millicent asked curiously.</p><p>“Oh, Miss! Brunhild be teasing Miss Freyja,” Hinky recounted eagerly. “She be hiding under Miss’s bed and be spitting and hissing at Hinky.”</p><p>“Of course she did,” Millicent sighed. Brunhild was a fairly recent addition to their home, and Millicent’s kneazle did <em>not</em> appreciate the interloper.</p><p>“Hinky be making Miss’s tea. Miss be eating what Hinky be making,” Hinky added with a dark look at Millicent.</p><p>Seclusion and isolation had led to anxiety, worry, and a loss of appetite, which had upset Hinky to no end. Millicent murmured something soothing to Hinky and followed the House Elf toward the dining room.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The first day of school was unlike anything Millicent had ever known. She tugged anxiously at her Muggle clothes and adjusted her messenger bag. Forks High School, despite being a public school, did <em>not</em> have a school uniform. Since it was a Muggle school, witches robes were right out. Millicent had never worn Muggle clothes in her life before coming to Forks.</p><p>Luckily, Millicent had managed to find an out-of-the-way spot on the school grounds to Apparate to and avoid trying to walk on gravel roads in three-inch heels. She might be stuck in some obscure Muggle school with no friends, but she was still a <em>Slytherin</em>, damn it. There were standards that one needed to uphold, and one didn’t wear a dress like <em>this</em>, without the proper footwear.</p><p>Once she arrived at school, she pulled out the map and the class schedule that the registrar had given her. Her first class was some Muggle US History class. She rolled her eyes at that. It was a pity that Pansy hadn’t bothered to arrange for tutors as well.</p><p>As Millicent walked down the hall, she glanced at her map and scanned the room numbers as she passed them. Finally, she found the right room. The door was wide open. She peered in uncertainly until she spotted an older woman at the front of the room.</p><p>“Professor… erm, Blake?” Millicent asked after a glance at the schedule.</p><p>“Mrs. Blake is fine,” the older woman replied. She glanced up and blinked at Millicent. “And you are?”</p><p>“Bulstrode, ma’am,” she replied.</p><p>“Ah, yes, the transfer student,” Mrs. Blake said. She shuffled some papers on her desk. “I’ll give the syllabus out to everyone, and you’ll receive a copy of your textbook as well.”</p><p>“Thank you, ma’am,” Millicent murmured. She moved to the back of the classroom and sat down with a sigh.</p><p>“English, hey!” Angela whispered when she sat down next to Millicent. She waved cheerfully. “We’re in the same class? Cool!”</p><p>“Cool,” Millicent repeated helplessly.</p><p>Just before the bell rang, a student slipped into the room and sat in the empty seat in front of Millicent. His clothing was well-made and obviously expensive. Quality like that cost sacks of Galleons. From the glimpse she caught, he was rather attractive. Not mind-numbingly gorgeous like Blaise, but few were. She purposefully shifted her focus to Mrs. Blake. She had a feeling that she was going to need to pay attention if she wanted a Passable in this class.</p><p>As promised, Mrs. Blake handed out the syllabus. When the student in front of her handed her a copy, his fingers accidentally brushed hers. Millicent distantly noticed that his fingers were icy-cold, but more important than that was the way he made her magic <em>hum</em>. His gaze jerked to meet hers and she pulled her copy of the syllabus away quickly.</p><p>“Sorry,” Millicent muttered automatically and averted her eyes. She hoped that he hadn’t been able to feel that. She wasn’t sure that she could come up with an excuse that would be believable.</p><p>“It’s fine,” he drawled.</p><p>Against her will, Millicent’s eyes found his once again. They were an unusual gold colour and they were looking her over with frank curiosity. Millicent lifted her chin and raised an eyebrow at him. His lips twitched slightly and he nodded at her before he turned around.</p><p>Confused, Millicent stared at the syllabus in front of her, trying to concentrate on whatever Mrs. Blake was talking about.</p><p>The next few classes were completely absent of handsome Muggles that made her magic hum, and Millicent was grateful for that. Angela found her and dragged her to the cafeteria for lunch. Millicent followed her hesitantly. She had never actually eaten Muggle food before. It was safe, it had to be. All the Muggleborns had presumably eaten it for years before they went to Hogwarts.  </p><p>They queued up neatly behind a group of laughing boys and Millicent grasped the strange plastic tray tightly. She picked whatever Angela picked and then followed her to a table where a group of people were already sitting.</p><p>“Hey, you guys, have you met Millicent yet?” Angela asked with a smile.</p><p>With a dawning sense of horror, Millicent realized that the boy from her history class was sitting at the table next to a dark-haired girl with a short pixie-cut that Pansy most definitely would have approved. Pixie-Cut looked up and her eyes widened in surprise and respect.</p><p>“Is that from Givenchy’s fall collection?” She asked.</p><p>Millicent glanced down at the black wrap dress she’d chosen for her first day of school.</p><p>“I think so,” Millicent said cautiously. “My friend Pansy got it for me.”</p><p>“See, Alice,” another girl with long, dark hair said with satisfaction. “Not all of us are fashion mavens.”</p><p>“Oh, I wouldn’t know,” Millicent replied with a shrug. “All my clothes at home are bespoke. Pansy thought I should get something different for school here.”</p><p>If there was one thing that Millicent had learned in Slytherin, it was that one established dominance immediately. Once her status was granted, no one would question it. In her world, fashion was used as a weapon. She didn’t appreciate this strange girl implying that she was ignorant of fashion.</p><p>“That dress looks fabulous on you,” Pixie-Cut continued. She tilted her head to the side. “I’m Alice, by the way.”</p><p>“Millicent,” she murmured and nodded her head politely.</p><p>“Bella,” the girl with the long dark hair said from her place.</p><p>“It’s a pleasure,” Millicent said politely with another nod.</p><p>“Let me introduce you to everyone,” Angela said with a smile and pointed out the rest of the table, rattling off names.</p><p><em>Jasper</em>. His name was Jasper. He had an arm slung casually around Alice’s shoulders and he was talking to another remarkably attractive boy that was sitting next to the girl who had introduced herself as Bella.  </p><p>“What does ‘bespoke’ mean,” a girl named Jessica asked curiously.</p><p>“It means that the item is made to your personal specifications,” Millicent replied.</p><p>“What… like handmade?” a girl named Lauren said incredulously. Her nose wrinkled. “Are you trying to tell us that everything you own is handmade?”</p><p>“Yes,” Millicent said. Lauren scoffed at that.</p><p>“So like, your mom makes all of your clothes?”</p><p>Millicent couldn’t help herself. She threw back her head and laughed. The idea that Mummy—who couldn’t even be bothered to make her own tea—was off somewhere industriously sewing all of Millicent’s clothes was too amusing. When she caught her breath, <em>he </em>was watching her with curious golden eyes again. She averted her eyes from his and focused on Lauren.</p><p>“No, my mum doesn’t make my clothes,” Millicent said.</p><p>“Hey, Jessica, are we still on for the back to school party?” Angela asked brightly, pulling attention away from Millicent and Lauren.</p><p>“Absolutely,” Jessica replied just as brightly. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and preened as she began to rattle off her plans for that weekend.</p><p>Apparently Muggles weren’t all that different from witches and wizards after all. The talk of parties and who was going to wear what, and who might have a crush on whom was familiar and comforting. Millicent let all of it wash over her as she poked curiously at the food on her tray.</p><p>“Can you come, Millicent?” Angela asked with an encouraging smile.</p><p>“Sorry?” Millicent blinked and focused on Jessica and Angela, who were watching her expectantly.</p><p>“Can you come to my back-to-school party?” Jessica asked. “It’s going to be fun.”</p><p>“That sounds lovely.” Millicent smiled back at them politely. “When should I expect your O—erm, your invitation?”</p><p>Two boys, she thought Angela had called them Mike and Ben, started laughing. Millicent’s spine straightened, and she clamped down tightly on the feelings of embarrassment and shame that flooded her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see <em>him</em> frown and tilt his head to the side slightly.</p><p>“That <em>was </em>the invitation, English,” Angela said with a little laugh. “Can you come?”</p><p>“Oh.” Millicent bit her lip. She had to blend into the community. She was stuck here for the foreseeable future. “Yes, thank you.”</p><p>The rest of the week flew by peppered with Angela’s attempts at friendly overtures. If ever a Muggle was a Hufflepuff, that girl was one. She tried to help Millicent navigate the differences between British schools and American schools. Millicent sighed and accepted Angela’s genuine help. She hoped she didn’t give an odd impression of British schooling. She was certain that the Muggle and wizarding school systems in the U.K. were rather different.</p><p>Every day, Alice made a point to say something nice about whatever Millicent had chosen to wear that day. Alice’s favorite had been a Chanel gown that had been charmed to a pale leaf green as opposed to the baby blue it had been originally.</p><p>Still following the rules of Slytherin, Millicent had been coolly polite. She doubted that the petite brunette was planning on manipulating Millicent in a complex power play, but one could never be certain.</p><p>“You have incredible posture,” Alice stated on Friday. “Did you dance, back home, I mean?”</p><p>“Dancing lessons from the time I was five,” Millicent replied as she cautiously nibbled on a carrot stick.</p><p>“Ballet?” Bella guessed with a slight grimace.</p><p>“No.” Millicent shook her head. “No, we had a dancing master who taught us ballroom dancing.”</p><p>“We?” Alice’s golden eyes seemed to glow for a moment.</p><p>“All of the p—erm, there was a group of us that all took lessons together,” Millicent amended.</p><p>“So, you know how to waltz?” Bella asked curiously. An excited gleam entered her eyes. “Could you teach me?”</p><p>“Bella,” her boyfriend protested. At least, Millicent <em>thought</em> he was her boyfriend. He certainly acted as though he were.</p><p>“Oh, erm, I mean… I <em>do </em>know how to waltz,” Millicent sputtered helplessly. “I just don’t think that I—”</p><p>“Prove it,” Lauren said with a smug smirk.</p><p>“I would need a partner,” Millicent pointed out.</p><p>“I’ll dance with you.”</p><p>The soft drawl was quiet and made Millicent swallow hard. Reluctantly, she turned to look at Alice.</p><p>“Is that alright with you?” Millicent asked. Alice laughed and shook her head.</p><p>“Jasper doesn’t need <em>my</em> permission to dance,” she replied.</p><p>“Music?” Millicent tried one last time.</p><p>“Edward can play the piano,” Bella blurted out. When her boyfriend turned to stare at her, she blinked at him innocently. “What? You can! And it’s lunch time, so we could totally use the music room.”</p><p>Millicent earned a few precious seconds by begging to use the toilet. If she was going to do this—and thanks to that petty bitch Lauren, she didn’t have much of a choice—she needed to take steps to make sure that she didn’t make a fool of herself dancing with Jasper. Her wand and several sheets of blank paper ripped out of a journal produced two sets of transfigured gloves. Perfect.</p><p>Quickly she pulled on one set before marching into the music room with the other set in her gloved hand. She held out the gloves to Jasper silently. One blond brow arched and he looked at her solemnly for a long moment before he put them on.</p><p>“Ready?” Edward asked from the piano.</p><p>“Ready,” Jasper replied.</p><p>Bella had, if anything, understated Edward’s ability. He was quite talented and Millicent took a moment to appreciate his skill before she focused back on Jasper. He held out a gloved hand to her.</p><p>Practice and muscle memory took over. Millicent slipped her own gloved hand into his and dropped into a graceful curtsey. Jasper bent over her hand and she could feel the barest pressure of his lips against her gloved flesh. They both rose and slid into the waltz, Jasper spinning her expertly around the room.</p><p>“You’ve taken lessons yourself,” Millicent murmured as he swung her around.</p><p>“Yes, ma’am,” he agreed. A slight smile curved his lips for a moment. “Shouldn’t you be in white for this?”</p><p>“Shouldn’t we be doing quadrilles with a room full of other dancers?” Millicent countered.</p><p>“I suppose we’ll have to make do.”  </p><p>Dancing with Jasper was too easy. She could lose herself in the beauty of the dance and doing so was dangerous. <em>He</em> was dangerous. She avoided the steady gaze that he had fixed on her face and glanced toward Alice, who was leaning against the piano and whispering with Bella.</p><p>“She’s very pretty,” Millicent admitted reluctantly.</p><p>“Alice? That she is,” Jasper agreed. He smiled fondly toward the piano. “She’s been the light of my life for a while now.”</p><p>As if Alice had heard him, she glanced toward them and blew Jasper a kiss. Abruptly, Edward finished the waltz. Jasper faltered slightly, but caught himself, ending them on an elegant spin. Millicent curtseyed again.</p><p>“Thank you for the dance, sir,” she murmured by rote.</p><p>“The pleasure was mine,” Jasper murmured back.</p><p>“So,” Alice said with an air of satisfaction and a pointed look in Lauren’s direction. “You can definitely waltz.”</p><p>“Not that you need to at my party,” Jessica blurted out. She blushed when they all looked at her. “I mean… it’s just going to be casual. Not like—not like <em>that</em>.”</p><p>“I understand,” Millicent tried to reassure her. “Casual.”</p><p>That evening when she got home, Millicent frowned at her kneazle.</p><p>“What, exactly, does <em>casual</em> mean?” She muttered. She chewed on her lower lip. “Do you think I should owl Pansy?”</p><p>Freyja yowled at Millicent.</p><p>“Right.”</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Finding Jessica’s house had been a test of Millicent’s burgeoning ability to navigate around Forks. She still wasn’t quite sure what ‘casual’ meant and had gone with a short-sleeved cashmere jumper in hunter green and a skirt. She had stared at herself in the mirror before she left, making sure that her make-up charms were in place. Hinky had trotted out just before she left, holding out a slim jewelry case.</p><p>“Miss be forgetting Miss’s special bracelet,” Hinky reminded her sternly.</p><p>Guiltily, Millicent accepted the charm bracelet with the emergency portkey. The platinum charms sparkled on her wrist, but it was the tiny Slytherin crest, with the snake picked out in tiny emeralds that caught her eye.</p><p>
  <em>“Don’t think to use it whenever you get bored, love,” Blaise had warned her when he’d given it to her. “Emergencies only. One never knows who might be visiting Mum.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Emergencies only,” Millicent had repeated. “Got it.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Blaise had smiled wistfully. “Stay safe, Mills. We’ll miss you.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I’ll miss you, too.” Millie had hugged him then. “You keep Malfoy alive, and I’ll see you both when this is all over.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yeah,” Blaise agreed. “I can do that.” </em>
</p><p>Taking a deep breath, Millicent raised her fist to knock on the door. Before she even had a chance, Jessica opened the door with an excited squeal. Millicent smiled weakly and held out a box of petit-fours that Hinky had whipped up. She had had the presence of mind to charm the box so that it looked like an exclusive bakery in Seattle.</p><p>“What’s this?” Jessica asked curiously. “It’s not my birthday, or anything.”</p><p>“It’s… a hostess gift?” Millicent’s voice rose uncertainly. She had never been to a Muggle party before. Did they not do hostess gifts?</p><p>“What a lovely gesture,” an older woman said with a smile. She took the box from Millicent. “It’s so nice to see that manners haven’t completely died out. Welcome to our home.”</p><p>“Thank you, ma’am,” Millicent murmured.</p><p>Jessica led her downstairs to a large room where students she vaguely recognized were clumped in small groups chatting or dancing to the music that Eric seemed to be in charge of.</p><p>After a half hour of hovering around the edges of other people’s conversations, Millicent ended up out on the back porch—she’d heard someone refer to it as a ‘deck’—watching the stars come out and making friends with the Stanley family’s cat.</p><p>“You have a hard time with crowds, too?” Jasper asked in his soft drawl. Millicent jumped and turned around to see Jasper leaning against the deck railing, watching her. His lips twitched and he pushed off of the railing. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”</p><p>“What are—where’s Alice?” Millicent asked nervously.</p><p>Slowly, Jasper moved closer to her, moving almost like a predator. The hair on the back of Millicent’s neck stood up and her fingers twitched for the wand she’d hidden in the pocket of her skirt.</p><p>“Alice is dancin’ with Bella,” Jasper replied.</p><p>“We shouldn’t be out here like this,” Millicent protested. She glanced at the door over Jasper’s shoulder. “It isn’t proper.”</p><p>Jasper’s lips twitched again. “Why? Because we don’t have a chaperone?”</p><p>The <em>of course</em> was unspoken, but was almost palpable between them. Jasper blinked and his eyes narrowed. He paused just outside her personal space.</p><p>“Don’t touch me,” Millicent blurted out. Jasper’s eyes widened and he stared at her for a moment.</p><p>“Why?” He asked suspiciously.</p><p>Millicent could feel her cheeks heat. “You know why,” she huffed at him. She waved a hand toward the door. “Alice, for one.”</p><p>Quickly, so quickly that his hand was a blur of motion, Jasper reached out and grabbed her wrist. His fingers were just as icy as they had been before, and Millicent’s instinct was to jerk her wrist out of his hand. She tugged at her wrist, but his fingers didn’t even budge. He didn’t even have to tighten his fingers—they stayed in a circle about her wrist.</p><p>As it had before, her magic began to hum and her skin began to tingle. Millicent gasped and tried to tug her wrist free again. Jasper pulled her closer to him effortlessly and frowned down at her.</p><p>“What <em>are </em>you?” He whispered.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  
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